Palette Cleanser

Hate to admit it, but I’m a tiny bit tired of foundation paper piecing. So for the 3 4-day holiday I decided to make something just for fun, with the idea it would be finished in those 4 days and I’d get back to FPP.*

It might have worked but Jac wanted to play games (she’s a Battleship star),

and build forts, and watch movies (Jac: “this is my favorite movie!” Me: “what happens in it?” Jac: “I don’t know. I’ve never actually watched it…” 🙄). 

Plus Coco has learned how to play and to communicate be the boss of me. She yowled, then patted her new toy until I got the idea and tuned it in for her. Now we do that every night when she gets the zoomies around 11:30. 

Which is a long way of saying I finished a new quilt, in one of my favorite patterns. Still debating whether to add borders… it’s 48x48” now, which seems a good size for a lap or wheelchair quilt. 

I still have a bunch of starched and ironed red, white and blue fabric. Rather than put it away I may make another of this wallhanging. It’s the only quilt I’ve made that I kinda regret giving away. It’ll be easy, right? It’s only 144 half-square triangles…

*I’ve signed up for another FPP block of the month, that started July 1, so I need the birds - and Christmas Wonderland and the embroidered bees - done asap. 

Aquarium Day

We were up with the birds this morning, ready to hit the aquarium. (Ok, we left the hotel at 10:30, which isn’t bad considering Jac and I are both night owls.) 

Jac said she loved her room on QM and “it was the best night ever!’

Aquarium of the Pacific is two stories packed with exhibits and hands-on fun, 

 

with lots of docents ready to answer questions or explain things at a kid level. 

Jac taking a picture of us….

…taking a picture of her

I was looking forward to seeing my favorite sea dragons but they are no longer there. 

 Vibrant pink fish; giant King crab; Garybaldie (he loves these); seahorse

Guess I’ll have to make do with an entire wing of jellyfish on special exhibit. So cool! 

 Flame Jellies

Jac loved the touchable sharks and manta rays, 

 Petting a shark, ray and starfish

axolotl tank, 

 Jac kept singing ‘ I’m a hermit crab’ 🎶

kids playground and the ice cream cart (we were very tired by then). 

 This puffin was as fascinated with Jac as she was with him

She took videos of every exhibit (how much memory does her phone have??) 

All the penguins had little bead bracelets on a flipper to show their name. Jac kept going back and forth, tank to chart, looking up who was who. 

and offered several times to take pics of me and Pop together. 💕

This was so funny. See the big(er) red frogs on the left? That was all we noticed at first… then we spotted the tiny red frogs on the right, taking turns jumping from the ledge to the top of the leaf. You could see their little brains saying ‘I’m next! It’s my turn!’

Such a fun day.

 Glow in the dark underwater plants!

Next up… Santa Barbara Zoo? Maybe? 

Note: ALL the elevators in the closest parking structure are out of commission and have been for so long that it’s noted on the aquarium website and on posted signs around the structure. Not a good look for Long Beach's prime tourist area.

 Just a few of my many! jellyfish pics…

Working The List

One of the top things on Jac’s CA must-do list, right after eating at Cheesecake Factory (been there twice in 8 days) and McDonald’s, was going to an aquarium.

Queen of the world

Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is the closest big aquarium 

 Our first in-the-wild sighting of a self-driving car; bridges to Terminal Island

but it’s still a minimum 2 hour drive each way (thru LA traffic so it can be muuuuuuuuch longer). 

So might as well make it an overnight trip and take Jac to one of our favorite hotels* - the original Queen Mary, docked just around the corner from AoP.

 Our mini-suite. Love the original furniture and wood paneling

We had dinner (surprisingly good) on board 

 Top deck - Jac forgot her sunglasses…

- parking is so.messed.up. there’s no way we were going out then have to find our way back in again - 

before wandering the upper decks to show Jac the sights. 

 Outside the bridge

Having seen most of the ship, want to know the thing she’s most impressed with? Having her own bedroom and bath in our mini-suite. 

 I  lifted Jac up since she wasn’t tall enough to reach the opening… last time I’ll do that! Little girl is heavy now!

We’ve taken all the grandkids except Donovan (one day, when he comes back to visit…) to spend a night here. Such great memories!

 ‘Push’ handle for toilet; last time we were here the four knobs had handles for regular water-hot and cold and sea water-hot and cold.

* It’s a favorite because it’s different and more of a museum than hotel. QM does have a few(!) quirks, which the reception staff warns you about at check-in. No individual temp control in the rooms (ours is freeeeeezing, but it’s better than being too hot like last time); the walls are *very* thin and if you have neighbors (we don’t seem to this trip) you will definitely hear them; bathrooms are clean and well-kept but the fixtures are old and quirky - we think it’s fun and part of the charm.

QOQ ATLM, Again

I hadn’t exactly forgotten about Quilt of the Quarter (QOQ) but my brain had decided the second quarter ended around… September. 🙄 Fortunately, my QOQ pal said, ‘so …. are we still doing this?’ 

 Pretty sparkly metallic cats

Why yes, yes we are. I knew the fabric I wanted to use - this Cat-I-Tude2 yardage and fat quarters has been in a bag, set aside for ‘special’, for years. 

 Friendship Star is a no-go. 

Thought I knew which design… but a test block (with ugly fabric) was a big, fat NO. Plan B, after an evening on Pinterest, looks more promising. 

 Inspiration 

Wednesday was the wake-up call; 

Thursday was for fussy-cutting fancy cats and starching/ironing fabric; 

Friday saw most of the fabric cut and cat frames sewn. 

Saturday we sewed… and Sunday it’s finished! 

 33 x 39”

This QOQ was ATLM (at the last minute) - again - but I’m pleased: A) the fabric is out of my stash; B) the quilt looks good; and C) the project is finished before June ended. Win, win, win! Now to plan for Quarter 3….

Double Digits

It’s the big 1-0 for Jaclyn today! So happy we got to celebrate with her.

We started out with lunch at Cheesecake Factory and her absolute favorite food - even better than chicken nuggets!! - Miso Salmon.

Our plan was to go to 🎯 and let her pick out her own gifts, which she was excited about. But Build A Bear Workshop was just around the corner from Cheesecake… 

and they had her favorite Pokemon, Sylveon… 

I thought Jac was too old for Build A Bear but obviously I was very, very wrong. (Prices have gone waaaaay up since the last time we were there. Worth it for happy Jackie, but wow.)

Chocolate cake, laser-printed axolotls (she still loves them), Battleship and a walk to the corner store with Pop* rounded out the day. Happy 10, Jaclyn!

* a daily event so they can both get a snack (and bring me one)…